


Scrap Metal

by Luonto



Series: across the stars [2]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band), Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Amputation, Cyborg!Vivi, Found Family, Maknae squad, Orphans, Other, Platonic YeoVi, Serious Injuries, Violence, no romance just a tiny street rat and her cyborg friend, sorry about all the blood, street gangs, unfortunately Vivi could not be born a cyborg so, yeet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-05-19 12:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19357234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luonto/pseuds/Luonto
Summary: Im Yeojin has spent all her life fighting for survival on the dangerous streets of Nar Shaddaa. She's used to risking her life for herself and her small gang of misfits, with her sharp wits and small stature helping her out of sticky situations.But an encounter in the Lower Industrial sector will test just how far she's willing risk her life to save a stranger





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking this out!  
> This is another piece of backstory for my SWTOR au (which I'm working on moving here), this time focusing on Yeojin and Vivi's story. It's a little different from my last fic, but I hope you still enjoy!
> 
> (also sorry about all the blood and shit, it does kind of come with the universe, but i've tried to tone it down)

Nar Shaddaa is no place for a kid to grow up.  
I’d heard that sentence plenty of times- from some of the older refugees on the streets, from the vendors at the Promenade whenever I went to pick up supplies, or from the occasional run-ins with gang members. I didn’t really understand it at first. Nar Shaddaa was the only place I really knew, with its flashing lights, towering skyscrapers and perpetual reddish haze that coloured the sky.  
I didn’t know how dangerous it could be until I found myself running for my life through the Lower Industrial sector, carrying an unconscious and bleeding girl over my shoulder.

 

Okay, I might be getting a bit ahead of myself. Let’s back up a bit.

The Lower Industrial sector was one of the more dangerous parts of Nar Shaddaa. It was crawling with Hutt Cartel officers and the occasional gang of Imperial soldiers- everyone agreed that they were bad news. It was, however, a treasure trove of rare parts, and occasionally I’d make quick trips there to scavenge what I could find before getting the fuck out of dodge. It was for that reason that I found myself there today- Gahyeon wanted a whole bunch of shit to fix her speeder with, and since I was the smallest of the group, the task fell to me. I prided myself on being able to slip through all the tiny passageways that the others couldn’t, but it was still a pain in the ass. I wasn’t even the one who crashed Gahyeon’s speeder, so why should I be risking my life to fix it?  
I muttered grumpily to myself as I strode through a large, abandoned hallway- probably part of an old factory or something. Piles of machinery lined the walls, with smaller wires and springs littered all over the floor. I double-checked the list that Gahyeon had given me, then knelt down next to the closest pile and began rummaging through it.  
“Let’s see… don’t need you, don’t need you, too rusty to be useful, there is no way I’m touching that… aha!” I muttered to myself, fishing out a fuel cylinder and stashing it away in my bag. I quickly fell into a routine- find a pile, rummage through it until I found something on the list, nab it and then move onto the next one. It didn’t take me too long to find most of the parts, and I was humming happily to myself as I sorted through a pile of pistons. I almost forgot how dangerous this place was.  
That was a big mistake.  
I heard the sound of heavy footsteps and rough voices from around a corner, followed by a small whimper. My entire body froze, and I hastily scurried over to the nearest corner, peering around it to see what was going on.  
A group of heavily armed thugs were standing in a wonky half-semicircle, clutching all sorts of weapons ranging from blasters to big metal pipes. I caught sight of the emblem on their uniforms and inhaled sharply. They were members of the Exchange- some of the nastiest motherfuckers around these parts. You name something shady, the Exchange was probably involved in it- spice laundering, extortion, tax evasion, murder, the whole shebang. I was about to turn around and run for my life when I spotted a small, blood-covered figure curled up on the ground in front of them. It looked like a person with a mop of bright, bubblegum-pink hair that hung in limp, matted strands. Their clothes were stained a deep red and they could barely stand, struggling to rise as a burly Exchange member stepped forward, growling.  
“Trying to run away, huh?” he sneered, poking her with the tip of the pipe he was holding. The figure groaned, reaching up a hand and attempting to bat it away.  
“Fuck… off..” The words were faint, but there was still an edge to them.  
“Still got some fight in you, eh?” The thug threw back his head and laughed, a harsh, barking laugh that grated against my ears.  
“You ain’t going anywhere, girlie. Nobody crosses the Exchange and walks away alive,” he growled, raising the pipe threateningly. All of my instincts screamed at me to run away, but I stayed rooted to the spot, watching the girl try to crawl away.  
I couldn’t leave her at the mercy of these fuckers.  
There weren’t that many options I could take- I was too small to fight them, plus they were armed and I wasn’t. The only thing I could think of was to cause a distraction, grab the girl and run. Panic seized my mind as I frantically looked around for something, anything that I could use to distract them. The hallway was filled with parts and scrap, but there wasn’t much else I could use. I glanced upwards, hoping for a miracle, then froze when I saw a series of pipes running across the ceiling. More importantly, there was a small leak where two of them joined together. I grinned slightly and picked up a jagged-looking piece of scrap metal. Even if I missed the shot, if that piece fell onto one of those goons they’d certainly feel it. I braced myself and took aim, hoping that all the time I spent throwing stones at officers as a kid would come in handy.  
Time almost seemed to slow down as I tossed the piece of scrap metal. It tumbled through the air and embedded itself right where the leak was. The pipes groaned, and some of the Exchange thugs looked upwards nervously, but it wasn’t enough to dislodge the pipes. I cursed silently and pulled the fuel canister out of my bag. It looked heavy enough to finish the job- Gahyeon would just have to find another one somewhere else. I took a deep breath and threw it towards the pipe, my entire body tensing up, ready to run.  
The canister hit home and the pipes broke, dumping a flood of white-coloured gas onto the Exchange members. They coughed and spluttered, some of them dropping their weapons and trying to wave the gas away. Now was my chance. I pulled the collar of my jacket up over my mouth and nose and dashed forward to where the girl was lying. She looked up at me with wide eyes as I frantically slid my arms under her and slung her body over my shoulder, trying my best to ignore the copious amounts of blood now splattered all over my jacket. The girl hissed with pain as I jostled her about, but didn’t protest much more than that. Once I’d managed to get a good grip on her, I took off, running for my life through the streets and trying to remember how to get back to the speeder pads. 

She was heavy, that was for sure. For the first few minutes she tried her best to cling onto my back, but I felt her go limp when I finally caught sight of the exits in the distance.  
“Shit,” I muttered to myself, trying to hoist her up without slowing down too much. I could hear shouting and heavy footsteps behind me. A bullet whizzed past my left ear and I flinched- that was way too close. The exit to the speeder pads was still a long way off, and there was almost no cover between here and there. We were fucked.  
I glanced around frantically trying to find something, anything that could help. My arms were starting to ache, and all the blood made her body very slippery. I glimpsed a small vent opening embedded in the bottom of a wall out of the corner of my eye and almost sighed with relief, making a beeline for it. Another bullet whizzed past me and I swore under my breath, hurriedly shoving the girl’s unconscious body into the vent and diving in after her. I could hear shouts from the thugs and tried my best to block them out and focused on crawling through the vent, trying to get as far away from that opening as possible. If they couldn’t see me, they probably couldn’t shoot me. 

We lay there in those vents for what seemed like hours as I waited for the Exchange thugs to leave. Eventually the sounds of their footsteps faded away, and I risked crawling back down to the vent entrance to double check. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that the place was deserted, dashing back up the vent to grab the unconscious girl and book it to the speeder pads before things went to shit again. The driver was alarmed when I jumped into his backseat with a bleeding, unconscious girl cradled in my arms, that was for sure.  
“Duros Sector, quick!” I yelled, rifling through my bag just in case I was smart enough to bring medical supplies on this trip. All I could find was a small stim, but I didn’t hesitate to uncap it and jab it into the girl’s arm. She flinched slightly and moaned, and I felt relief coursing through my body. She was still alive, for now.

“WE HAVE A MOTHERFUCKING SITUATION!” I yelled, kicking open the door to our hideout. My… roommates (I guess) looked up in surprise as I staggered into the center of the room, the girl’s unconscious body slowly slipping off my shoulder. I could feel them staring at me, but I honestly didn’t care. I’d just lugged an unconscious body all the way from the speeder pads through the entire fucking Duros Sector, having to deal with startled looks from all the other refugees I passed, and I was tired. Sue me for being a bit dramatic.  
Yerim was the first to respond, jumping up and dashing over, a worried look on her face.  
“Is she okay?” she asked frantically, gesturing for the others to come over.  
“Does this look okay to you, Kim Yerim?” I shot back, sighing with relief as Jongho carefully lifted the body off me, cradling her gently in his arms. Yerim looked hurt for a second, but quickly went to assist Chaeyoung in clearing one of the rickety old tables in the centre of the hideout so Jongho could put the girl down there. The others crowded around the table, peppering me with questions.  
“Where did this happen?”  
“Who is she?”  
“Is she alive?”  
“Do you have my speeder parts?”  
“In the Lower Industrial sector, I don’t know, yes but barely, and get your priorities sorted, Gahyeon!” I answered each of them in quick succession, stepping closer to the table to get a better look at her injuries. She was a fucking mess, to be honest. Long, bloody scratches and bruises criss-crossed her body, and I could spot at least three bullet wounds in her torso. Her right leg was splayed out at an unnatural angle- probably broken- and her right hand looked like it had been crushed by one of those pipes the Exchange had. She was breathing, but with each inhale her face screwed up in pain.  
“She’ll need stitches, that’s for sure,” Jungkook piped up. “Probably a whole lot of kolto as well.”  
“That leg doesn’t look good at all,” Gahyeon added. “Or the hand. I don’t think kolto will fix that.”  
“Shit…” I muttered to myself, trying to fight off the panic rising in my chest. “Do we have all that?”  
“I think there’s some kolto and thread out back… we might need some of those old droid parts we picked up as well,” Gahyeon answered, her expression grave.  
“Wait… you mean-” The suggestion hit me like a ton of bricks, and my breath caught in my throat.  
“Yeah. You might want to move fast.” With that, Gahyeon handed me a small vibroknife and sprinted towards the backroom, tugging Jongho along with her. I sighed and turned to the others.  
“You might want to go… this is going to get messy.”

It took the rest of the day to get her cleaned up and bandage the wounds. I felt exhausted, but I couldn’t drag myself away from that table. One glance at the bandaged stumps of her wrist and knee made me feel slightly weak at the knees, but I powered ahead. I’d found her and brought her here, so it was my responsibility to make sure she was okay.  
I heard a quiet groan and immediately glanced in the direction of the sound. Her eyes fluttered open, her breathing still ragged despite the fuckton of kolto we’d given her.  
“Where am I…?” she mumbled, turning her head to survey the surroundings.  
“Old abandoned bar back in the Duros Sector,” I answered, crouching down next to her.  
“But… the Exchange…” Every word she spoke was quiet, like just talking was painful.  
“I got you out of there. Broke some pipes, gassed the fuckers and ran.” I adjusted one of the bandages, practically on autopilot as I talked. “You know you’re really heavy, right? I carried you back here all by myself and my arms are still sore.”  
“You know you’re really loud, right?” she retorted, moving to sit up, then froze once she caught sight of the stumps where her leg and hand had been.  
“I… what did you-“  
“They were mangled and kolto and stitches wasn’t going to cut it,” I explained, sighing regretfully. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and I could see her shoulders shaking as she lifted up her right arm. “They’re… gone? For good? I… holy shit…” Her face fell and her eyes started glistening. Okay, panic time. “But… but don’t worry! We’ve got some old droid parts lying around, and I’m pretty good with my hands, so we can- we can fix this, okay? There’s nothing the great Im Yeojin can’t do.”  
“Except drive a speeder properly,” I heard someone comment from the doorway. I whirled around, ready to let loose a string of insults, but stopped when I noticed Chaeyoung standing in the doorway. She was always the least trying of the bunch, and I couldn’t stay mad at her for some stupid reason.  
“I wasn’t even driving it that time,” I grumbled, turning back to the girl, who still seemed to be shocked at the absence of several very important body parts.  
“You saved me,” she mumbled to herself, examining the bandages wrapped around most of her body. “Thank you.”  
“A-ah, it’s no biggie. You were getting the shit kicked out of you and I wasn’t gonna just stand by and watch.”  
“She’s a real softie, our Yeojin,” Chaeyoung said proudly, strolling over and slinging her arm over my shoulder. “She talks a big game, but she’s got an even bigger heart.”  
“I can see that.” The girl laughed softly, wincing as she struggled to shift into a sitting position.  
“You got a name?” I asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity.  
“Viian Wong. Sometimes people call me Vivi for short.”  
“Vivi… I like it!” I grinned at her, and she forced a smile in return.  
“You just stay here for a couple of weeks and we’ll take care of things. Just try get some rest.”  
“Rest… I like the sound of that,” Vivi murmured sleepily, lying back down. I fet a smile creeping up on me and shook my head, getting back to work.  
The sooner we got her cleaned up, the sooner everyone could rest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebuilding takes a long time- enough time for a stranger to be welcomed into this strange little family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so, so sorry for the amount of time between these two updates- university got in the way of things and I lost muse for a bit, but I'm finally done!! I hope you guys enjoy it, despite the wait.

The process took weeks. I barely moved from the table Vivi was lying on the entire time- the others had to drag me away to get some rest. I stopped protesting after the first three days- I was tired, and the boys were always the ones to move me, and they were strong. We left Vivi propped up on that table with some spare pillows and a blanket- she couldn’t exactly move very far until we found some more parts. Chaeyoung and Yerim took over scavenging while I was busy fixing her up- they were the smallest once you took me out of the picture, and for some reason people liked to dump important parts in the most inconvenient fucking places.   
Four days after I’d brought Vivi back to the hideout, I’d managed to stitch up most of the nasty scratches and bullet wounds (it was so gross you have no idea) when Chaeyoung and Yerim flung the hideout door open, waving an old droid arm around.  
“We found one!” Yerim yelled triumphantly. “It was tough- we had to break into an Imperial camp to grab it- but we got it!”  
“You guys are fucking legends,” I exclaimed, hopping off the table and examining the droid arm. It looked pretty serviceable- no rust, still had some of the wiring attached and only a couple of scratches here and there.  
“Looks pretty good to me,” I commented. “You didn’t take this from a still-functioning droid, did you?”  
“Maaaybeee…” Chaeyoung shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. I sighed deeply, jumping back up onto the table and getting back to work. At this point it didn’t really matter where they’d got the part, just that it worked. 

 

Vivi was just beginning to wake up as I carefully removed the droid hand from the rest of the arm and began reconfiguring the wiring, comparing it with a prosthetics diagram Yerim had swiped earlier.   
“Are you sure this is going to work?” she asked, scanning the diagram with a critical eye.  
“Yes… maybe… just shut up and let me work, aight?” I muttered in response, my hands shaking as I began the attachment process.  
“You really inspire confidence, don’t you?”  
“Says the girl who was dumb enough to tangle with the Exchange.”  
“I had a good reason!” she said indignantly.   
“What was it, then? Don’t leave us all hanging.”  
Vivi paused for a moment, glancing between the table, the droid hand and me, then back to the table. She sighed deeply, raising a hand to her face.  
“I… used to work for them.”  
“You WHAT?!” I yelled, almost dropping my screwdriver. The others all jumped in surprise, yelling their own protests at me to keep it down.  
“You heard me.” Vivi’s expression remained flat as she explained.   
“I ran into them when I was younger. My parents spent all their time in the casinos, and I was young, and bored, and stupid. So I joined a group of gangsters, then the Exchange when they took over our group. I worked as a hitman for them- pretty good shot with a blaster, if I do say so myself. But I dug too deep. The Exchange were taking on ‘extermination work’ for the Hutts, kicking out refugees and working them to death. It was… sickening, so I sold them out the Republic. They weren’t happy, caught me without my blaster and… the rest you know.”   
The entire room went silent. I struggled to find the right words for a few moments, then spoke up.  
“That’s both the dumbest and the most badass thing I’ve ever seen someone do.”  
“I.. yeah, in hindsight it was kind of dumb. I should’ve known they’d catch me.” Vivi sighed heavily, watching me closely as I shook myself out of my revelation-induced stupor and finished attaching the droid hand to her wrist.   
“It was really brave of you, though… not many people tangle with those fuckers, or even have the guts to stand up to them. You’ve got guts, Viian Wong.”  
“And you’re pretty good with your hands, Im Yeojin.” She carefully examined her new hand, slowly flexing each finger in turn to make sure it worked.  
“Now can you get me a new leg so I can finally get off this fucking table?”

“So what do you all do around here when you’re not fixing up ex-hitmen like me?”   
It had been a couple of days since Chaeyoung and Yerim had found the droid hand. I was in the same place as always, carefully installing several small cybernetic implants where some of the nastier bullet holes had been. Vivi was helping this time, testing out her new right hand and clearly enjoying doing something other than lie around and make snarky remarks. We were in the middle of attaching a small piece of metal to her left shoulder when she posed the question. It caught me off-guard.  
“Well… we just kind of bum around the place, to be honest,” I admitted. “Sometimes Chaeyoung, Yerim and I go scavenging for parts to sell to vendors at the Promenade- that usually gets us enough credits for a few meals. The boys, Jungkook and Jongho over there, they’ve got apprenticeships with some of the mechanics over at the spaceport, and Gahyeon’s studying to become a medic or pilot. She can’t quite decide which one.”  
Vivi hummed to herself, carefully considering the new information. She got lost in thought quite easily, I’d noticed- lots of half-finished conversations with her.   
“And all of you… you’ve got nowhere else to go?” She posed the question tentatively, almost as if she was afraid of asking it, afraid of hurting our feelings. She didn’t need to worry (we got that question a lot) but it was kind of heartwarming to hear.   
“Yep. Yerim, Chaeyoung, Gahyeon and Jongho all lost their parents in the same starship crash. Jungkook lost his to the Krayt Gang over in the Corellian sector, and mine… I don’t remember where the fuckers went, but if I find them, I’m giving them a piece of my mind.”  
The slight pang in my chest that I felt whenever I thought about my parents made me hesitate for a second, frowning, but I pushed it down like I always did. No use crying over two idiots I don’t even remember.   
“Do you want to go looking for them?”  
“Now? Hell no. I’ve got a better family, right here. They’re all I have, and I’m not gonna up and leave them.”  
“Wow…” I detected a hint of admiration in Vivi’s voice. “I mean… I worked for the Exchange for years, but I never considered them family.”  
“That’s because the Exchange are dickheads,” I pointed out.   
“Even so, the gang I used to run with before the Exchange didn’t feel like family either. This…” she gestured to the hideout. “You’ve built this on your own, right?”  
“Yep,” I said proudly. “It took ages, but it’s a nice place to live now, if I do say so myself.”  
“It’s impressive, really.” Vivi smiled- it was the first time I’d seen her smile genuinely since she arrived here. “I wish I had something like that when I was younger.”  
The smile became tinged with a hint of sadness, and I frowned a little, contemplating an idea.  
“Well, why don’t you stay with us?”  
“What?”  
“Stay here after you get better. We could use an extra pair of hands, and the others seem to like you enough. Plus having a gun-toting cyborg around will keep some of the gangs off our back.” I grinned cheekily, tightening the final screw on her shoulder implant. Vivi snorted, fighting back a laugh.   
“You serious?”  
“Absolutely,” I put on my best ‘serious’ face- which wasn’t a very good one, I’ll admit. That was enough to make Vivi burst out laughing.  
“With an offer like that, how can I refuse?”   
I extended a hand and she accepted the offer, shaking my hand firmly. We shared a smile, and I could feel… something building between us.  
Of course, that was the perfect time for Yerim to burst back in, clutching a droid leg.  
“FOUND ONE, FUCKING FINALLY!” she yelled triumphantly, and I sighed, then immediately got up to high-five her. Vivi scooted over to the edge of the table and held out her hand, and Yerim handed her the droid leg.  
“Finally…” she sighed with relief- I could tell that the boredom of not being able to move anywhere was getting to her. I picked up my screwdriver and grinned at her.  
“Let’s get this motherfucker installed.”  
“You bet,” Vivi answered eagerly, and we got back down to work

I could feel the beginning of a lifelong partnership forming between us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and it's finally done! I hope you all enjoyed reading and feel free to hit me up on Twitter (@werewolfhyejoo) or curiouscat (@hyekami) if you have any questions.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, part 1 done! I'll write and upload the rest tomorrow because I am... tired. 
> 
> Nevertheless, I hope you guys still liked it! If you have any questions feel free to hit me up.
> 
> twitter: @hyekami  
> 


End file.
